| This John 1 logos activity is a simple alternative to a craft and can be a used as a logic puzzle. It ties into John 1 where Jesus is described as ‘The Word’ or as John would have written ‘Logos’. I’ve tried to keep the style or lettering that was similar to what may have originally been penned. |  |
This passage in John 1 lends itself to word games, hunts for letters, light, and order. John was beginning, but he was aware that he wasn’t starting the story, it was already alive. Choose the game or games that suit your group and setup best.
All Ages
Any size group
No Setup time
Quiet game
Can be seated
Have you ever turned a doodle into a picture? Give each child a sheet of paper and a pencil. Have them draw a circle. They then have 1 minute to turn it into a picture of something. Repeat with other shapes: triangle, square, zigzag, spiral, etc.
Link : How to start a gospel.
Ages 7+
Small group
Requires setup time
Quiet game
Can be seated
Grab a letter-based game and put out the letters. Explain that the kids have to make a word using the letters that link to the word you give them. This can be against the clock or against another team. Words to give : sport, food, family, write, Jesus.
Link : John trying to describe Jesus
Under 7’s
Any size group
Requires setup time
Noisy game
Space needed
Crack a bunch of glow-sticks and then hide them around the room, drop the lights and challenge the kids to find them. If you have many colours, you can hide different colours according to age group or have kids only collect one of each colour.
Link : Darkness can’t stop the light.
Ages 7+
Any size group
Requires setup time
Quiet game
Can be seated
Grab a selection of random objects and give them to the youngsters. Tell them they have to put them in ‘order’. Let them decide of what that order will be. Talk about how when we put something together, we send messages about the order we see. Challenge them to choose another way of ordering them: how many can they do? If they are stuck, try size, colour, usefulness, beauty, or purpose.
Link : John was sending the message that Jesus’ story was part of the big story from the beginning.
All Ages
Any size group
Requires setup time
Noisy game
Can be seated
A simple mimic game where the first person taps out a small beat and passes it around the group, once it reaches the last person they change the beat. Add in sound effects as your group gets more confident.
Link : John was echoing something familiar — Genesis 1.
| This John 1 candle craft ties into John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” The craft jumps out of the page and is made entirely from a single sheet printout. |  |
Here are the images you need for the hero’s attributes linked to ‘The Word’ (John 1).
Each hero set contains a high quality graphic of the character, a take home bible card and a colouring page.
The images are displayed small here, click on the image you wish to have, then save the image that loads.
(These images are not copyright free, they are for personal/classroom use only.)
The introduction to John’s gospel can read a little abstract and symbolic for many. Who is this ‘Word’ that John is referring to? What knowledge is John building on, and why does he use this convoluted tone as an introduction to a book about a man who talked of sparrows, sheep, and stone? This retelling looks at the reasons why John started the book with these now famous lines.
This retold version of the Bible passage is supplied for inspiration, feel free to omit or embellish to give it your personal voice.
Main Passage : John 1: 1-10
John sat in front of a long blank roll of papyrus and wondered how to start telling his readers about the man named Jesus, who was also God. He didn’t know how long these words would last, but he knew that there were already some writings being sent between the churches. Why did God want him to write another account?
The story of Jesus was the most exciting and life-changing story John had ever known, almost as amazing as the whole story of God starting with God creating the world. John remembered hearing the story of the beginning as a child, how God had made everything and everyone we see. Everyone knew the famous first words, ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.’ John smiled as he remembered it. He glanced out his window to see God’s creation and realised that that was the perfect way to start.
“In the beginning was the Word” John wrote, soon his readers would know that the word was Jesus, but first he would make some things really clear. “And the Word was with God” he continued, “and the Word was God”
John sat back and looked at his sentence. Yes, that was perfect. What next?
“All things were created through him.” Jesus didn’t just appear, thought John. He had always been there, waiting for the time to come to earth.
“In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” Yes! Thought John, that was very Jesus. He liked to talk about life, eternal life, full life, amazing life.
“That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.” That was the story of Jesus, as simple as light, shining into the darkness, and no matter what the darkness tried, nothing could stop the light from shining.
John was on a roll now. He knew what to do. He needed to tell the whole story of Jesus, from the cries of John the Baptist in the desert to the frustration of the religious authorities that led to their anger and Jesus’ death. Then the amazing, miraculous, story of how Jesus beat death and returned to be with us forever. John stopped wondering and started to write, words flowing out in smooth lines over the papyrus. How did he ever doubt he could find the words for this story? It was God’s story and God was helping him write it!
Today’s bible hero is John because he shows us the gift of The Word
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